Burdened and Beleaguered
by Cassiopeia224
Summary: It starts off as a small cough. Itachi barely notices; he has never taken well to cold places and shrugs it off as a temporary illness. But, slowly and surely, the symptoms worsen, leaving the S-class nin gasping for air and hacking up crimson blood.
1. Itachi

**For those who haven't read my first fanfic, I wrote in totally different style for this one. I'm trying different sentence structures and wordings to see what works and what doesn't. Tell me if you prefer the first (flowing and smooth) or this (more jagged and simplisitic). **

**Itachi has always been the good guy that was suffering in silence for too long! People just don't appreciate good deeds anymore (e.g. Sasuke).**

* * *

It starts off as a small cough. Itachi barely notices. He thinks it is a result of the cold of the Hidden Mist Village, where he is currently stationed with Kisame, carefully tailing the 6-tailed jinchuuriki. Itachi has never taken well to cold places, and he shrugs it off as a temporary illness.

It is one day when the some Mist ANBU shinobi discover them, that Itachi and Kisame are forced to flee. They scatter like fallen leaves, fleeing through the lush canopy, with the Mist nin close in pursuit. Itachi dodges a multitude of glittering kunai, centimeters from his face. He attempts various small genjutsu, but ANBU are not so easily fooled. They tail the Akatsuki pair relentlessly, hot on their heels, spitting out water jutsu with ferocious agility.

That is when Itachi notices something odd: he can't catch his breath. There is a stitch in his side. His lungs heave with effort to circulate oxygen, and his head is slightly spinning, sending the misty green world into a dizzying circle.

He halts on the next branch and inhales deeply, trying to suppress his quaking limbs.

Ahead, Kisame stops as well and turns." "Itachi-san what the hell—"

"Ametarasu."

It is devastatingly effective. All four shinobi of the Mist are caught in the perpetual heat of the flames and they burn to a fine dust under Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan.

"What happened to stealth, Itachi-san?" Kisame doubles back and stands on the same tree branch as Itachi. They watch the smoldering remains. "Now the Mist will surely know we are here. Nobody in that village has fire jutsu like this."

"It was necessary." Itachi closes his eyes against a brief spasm of pain, the price of the Mangekyou. "We will just find the jinchuuriki another way."

He leaps away and Kisame is forced to follow.

* * *

It gets worse. Itachi spends most of his nights coughing now, depriving him of sleep. The pair is taking shelter in the dense forest between the Fire Country and Water Country. Occasionally, Kisame would shoot him a glance, but say nothing.

Itachi prefers it this way.

Though neither of them is surprised when one day, Itachi doubles over and hacks up scarlet blood into his hands.

Kisame presses him to stop at the next village and see a medic nin. "Itachi-san, you really shouldn't overtax your body like this."

Itachi glances up at his partner. "Your concern is admirable, Kisame, but this cough will go away in time."

"Like it has for the last 3 months? Shit, Itachi—you need to see a doctor—"

"I am not accustomed to the cold." Itachi pulls his Akatsuki cloak tighter around him. "Once we leave, I will get better."

* * *

Eventually however, Itachi gives into Kisame's insistences and they make their way to a small building several villagers had pointed out. A retired medic nin and her apprentice live over that way, they had said.

It is a humble abode cloaked in emerald ivy. The doorframe is so small Kisame is forced to duck his head in order to enter. A child of thirteen greets the pair; she is dressed in a modest white dress. The girl shyly gestures them into a cozy waiting room with a roaring fire and departs.

Itachi stands as close to the warmth of the flickering flames as possible with eyes half-lidded. Fatigue presses down upon him and the wavering light throws the shadows underneath his eyes, a souvenir from months of sleepless nights, into sharp relief.

Kisame glances at him in mild concern.

It is some time before a motherly old lady stooped with age enters the room.

"Hello," she smiles; her wrinkles fold into themselves like paper. "And who am I seeing today?"

"That would be me." Itachi steps forward.

"Well then. If you could just lie down on this cot," she gestures to a small bed tucked in the corner of the room. "I'll just check your symptoms first."

She runs some basic scans on him with chakra-enhanced hands, prodding several places along Itachi's chest. Then she widens the chakra so it forms a large dome over the whole of Itachi's torso. It is finished in a relatively short amount of time. The old lady frowns; she has never sensed lungs like Itachi's before. They seemed to be slowly deteriorating, she explains. If Itachi would stay, she could run more extensive tests and perhaps come up with a more concrete diagnosis.

Itachi politely refuses, hinting at a tight schedule. Behind him, Kisame resists the urge to roll his eyes. _Always the prick about missions. _ The young apprentice prepares some herbs for Itachi under the aged medic nin's watch. Take the leafy herbs with breakfast, the old lady instructs. Save the brown pills for dinner. And slather this cream onto the chest at night. Itachi nods and the teen shows the pair to the door. They depart, Itachi's bag heavy with medicine.

* * *

For a time, it gets better. But slowly and surely, the symptoms worsen. Itachi is hacking up blood every week. He returns to the medic nin's office and is given more medicine, though each time, the medicine is accompanied with dire warnings that Itachi needs hospitalization, and not just herbs. He says nothing, only depositing money in the young girl's hands before departing. And each time, after issuing the warnings, the old lady watches the young man depart with worried eyes.

Nowadays, Itachi barely sleeps at night. Kisame has lent him his cloak to be used as a blanket, but even with the extra layer, his bones ache with the wintry cold. He curls upon himself under the black fabric, holding his lungs, gasping for air, and dripping blood between his fingers. In the darkness, Itachi can feel Uchiha Madara's Sharingan spinning.

In the morning, Kisame leaves to fetch the Yonbi. Itachi stays behind, only opening his eyes at the sound of an inert body hitting the floor behind him, accompanied with Kisame's heavy footsteps.

* * *

Not much later, Itachi and Kisame are watching Sasuke and his 4-man squad racing through the undergrowth of a jungle.

"Kisame." The latter turns. "Delay the others for me. I wish to confront Sasuke alone."

"Ahh, but Itachi-san. What use are your otoutou's eyes if you are in no condition to use them?"

Itachi sighs. "It will all become clear soon enough."

"Don't you need my help to take him down? He killed Diedara—though the idiot may have just blown himself up—" Kisame strokes his Samehada with unreserved hunger. Doubtlessly the greedy sword craves the chakra of the cursed seal.

"That will not be necessary Kisame. As I said, I wish for the confrontation to be private."

* * *

Itachi stumbles forward, blind and exhausted. He reaches blindly, scarcely sensing the presence of the equally drained Sasuke. His otouto has battled fiercely, but sadly, Itachi could easily trump him if he actually tried. But unlike Sasuke, he has a charade to keep. And unlike Sasuke, he needs to complete one last task before dying.

He is truly spent. Every scrap of energy has been directed to his two fingers and to power his trembling legs.

Itachi is tired, so extremely, tired. He welcomes death with beckoning arms—anything to end the smoldering pain in his eyes and chest. Sasuke is hyperventilating in terrified spurts; Itachi smiles because he knows he is close. His otouto is trapped between him and the wall. Two exhausted fingers lightly skip across Sasuke's forward and Itachi whispers his last words: "Forgive me Sasuke, this is the last time."

He pitches forward into the welcoming darkness. It envelops his entire being and spirits him away into a blissful oblivion.

* * *

"Is he…dead?"

"Just about."

"…I don't understand…"

"Neither do I."

The pair stares down at the inert figure. Itachi's hair is messily splayed out behind him, some strands falling out of his hair tie.

Tsunade turns. "Alert me if he wakes from his coma. We have a lot of questions to ask him."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Shizune turns back towards the prone figure lying in the hospital bed. Itachi's chests rises and falls weakly, in time with the beeping monitor. The short-haired kuniochi settles into a chair and prepares herself for a long, sleepless night.

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**I know, the ending was a bit unexpected right? well, if reviews are good, I will add more chapters. I really don't like having Itachi die. **


	2. Tsunade

**Let's just say, for the sake of simplifying the story, that Naruto finds Itachi before Zetsu eats him. And Itachi was miraculously still alive, so Sakura used some of her medical skills to keep his heart beating until they reached Konoha. I don't want to make it too elaborate or introduce too many new characters.**

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Tsunade frowned and tilted back on her chair, surveying the sleepy mist enshrouding the village in the early dawn. Behind her, scattered leaflets of paper idled among piled scrolls upon her desk, though she paid the mess of documents in the Hokage office no heed. Indeed, her mind had once again returned to the sterile corridors of Konoha's Hospital, where, currently, Shizune was currently stationed under her orders, guarding the comatose Uchiha.

The disturbing circumstances surrounding Itachi when the combined efforts of Team Kakashi and Team 10 had located him was no less befuddling. He had been found in a near-death state, with his two eyeballs forcefully removed, leaving bloody gaps in his face. Multiple lacerations had covered his body, while third degree burns had mutilated his right arm and hemorrhaging lungs had lost him most of his blood.

In all rights, Uchiha Itachi should be dead.

But of course, Tsunade thought wryly, fate had not calculated the pig-headed efforts of Sakura to revive the Uchiha upon catching sight of him. Sakura had claimed that keeping Itachi alive in Konoha would draw Sasuke back to the village. There was little too argue against that, though common sense dictated that S-class nin did not usually bode well with the hidden village they defected from.

It was only when Naruto recounted a strange incident with Itachi that Tsunade paused in the execution arrangements. Apparently, Itachi had _chatted_ with Naruto. About Sasuke. About Konoha's welfare. Which was surely ridiculous. Wanted shinobi that he was, Itachi should not have Konoha's welfare on his mind. And then to almost seem to worry about Sasuke! No, Tsunade had decided, there was definitely something ugly amiss. And among ugly things in the Hidden Leaf Village…

A knock at the door interrupted her train of dark thoughts. Tsunade barked the order to come in, and Danzo stepped into the sunny office. He clumped across the room and sat down heavily upon a chair across from her chaotic desk.

"Tsunade-sama," Danzo said. "I am here to discuss your decision concerning Uchiha Itachi."

"Hn." Tsunade only deigned to glare at the bandaged face.

"He is an S-class shinobi and is currently affiliated with Akatsuki! Furthermore, Itachi is wanted by all five of the Great Nations for taking part in the kidnap of numerous jinchuurikis. Surely you must put aside your foolishness, Lady Tsunade, and see that the only reasonable thing to do would be to kill him!" Danzo tapped his cane impatiently on the floor for emphasis.

"Then why did Itachi fail to capture Naruto?" Tsunade retorted. "He was alone in the forest, without Kakashi or Yamato. It would have been too easy for the likes of him. But all he did was _talk_ to Naruto."

"Do not presume to ask me to ponder the inner workings of the mind of a mass murderer," Danzo sneered. "We all know too well that Itachi has almost succeeded in capturing the nine-tails jinchuuriki. For him to fail should be counted as fortunate."

"And that is exactly why I am questioning this entire matter!" Tsunade snarled. "Itachi has powers beyond the scope of Konoha shinobi. For him to fail repeatedly is unheard of! No, I think there is something else going on here, Danzo…"

"You think Itachi was not behind the massacre of his clan?" Danzo raised his only visible eyebrow.

Tsunade regarded the man evenly. "I think Uchiha Itachi isn't telling us something."

Danzo made to produce a counter argument but Tsunade had risen and now spoke over him. "You can shut your mouth Danzo because I have nothing further to say to you. Arguments will get us no where. Only the answers that Uchiha Itachi holds will make things more clear." And with that, she swept across the Hokage office and vanished through the door with a wave of her blonde pigtails.

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In the deep confines of the basement of the Konoha hospital were windowless rooms constructed from titanium steel. In times of war, the rooms would house numerous patients, when the upper levels of the building were bombarded with exploding tags and kunai. Now, they were mostly empty, save for a couple of stashed supplies. A square room in the corner of the basement, however, had a barrier seal fitted onto the doorframe, and beyond, laid the comatose Uchiha on a clean bed with monitors and IV's hooked up to his still form.

Both kunoichis stared at the pale face swathed in bandages. They had made no effort to implant new eyes for Itachi, not after all the trouble they went through with his damned mastery of the Sharingan.

Shizune turned. "Tsunade-sama, this doesn't seem right."

"I know, Shizune. It doesn't seem right to me either."

"No it's not that…" Shizune scrambled for words that would make the Hokage understand. "After everything he has done to Naruto-kun…shouldn't Naruto-kun be…angry, at the least?"

Tsunade snorted.

"But Naruto-kun doesn't want him to die…this whole situation is bizarre to say the least. And what will we do when he wakes up? What if he attacks the village?"

"We'll worry about that when we get there, Shizune." Tsunade said no more, and conversation fell flat.

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It was much later, in the wee hours of the night, when Itachi stirred weakly. Both women started immediately at the slight movement and fixed their eyes upon the Uchiha. Shizune darted forward with a syringe ready and administered the chakra-paralyzing drug into his limp arm.

She had just emptied most of the contents in the syringe when Itachi rasped, "There is no need for that. I have almost no chakra supply left."

Shizune shrieked in alarm and scuttled back to Tsunade. Itachi struggled up and reclined against the metal headboard of the bed. Tsunade approached him cautiously, though at the sound of her advancing steps, Itachi had oriented his head towards her warily. "My eyes…" Itachi felt the bandages encircling his head. "Were they…?"

"You were found with your eyes plucked out," Tsunade responded simply.

"Hn."

"You are currently in a hospital. In Konoha."

Itachi stiffened instantly at her last words. After a long pause, he said, "Then you must be the imfamous Lady Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. And the other…?"

"My assistant, Shizune."

"Ahh."

Another pause. Tsunade felt inclined to break the silence this time. "My apprentice, Sakura, saved you. They found you nearly dead among some rubble."

"Alone?" Itachi asked quickly.

"Yes. It seems another member of the Akatsuki had already taken Sasuke. Perhaps you know him." Tsunade observed the pale face of the Uchiha carefully. "He has an orange mask, and calls himself Tobi."

Itachi's blank expression did not change, though his hands tightened their grip on the bed sheets considerably.

"In any case, that is not the reason why you are here, Itachi. We want to question you regarding the massacre of the Uchiha clan, and the circumstances surrounding Sasuke as well as Naruto."

"Is that why I am still alive then?" Itachi licked his dry, cracked lips.

"Among other things." Tsunade said dismissively. "Firstly, why did you kill your clan?"

The young man gave the two kuniochi a cruel smile. "They were holding me back. They were weak and caught up in the past. I wished to dispose of them."

"Then what was the point of leaving Sasuke alive?"

"To steal his eyes when mine fail."

Shizune flinched at the harsh response, though Tsunade plowed straight on.

"And why did you not kidnap Naruto in the forest, when you had your chance?"

"I wished to speak with him."

"Yes, Naruto told us as much. But the things you said seem awfully contradictory with your actions."

Itachi gave no reply, but turned his head away.

Tsunade frowned down upon the young man. "Perhaps Ibiki can loosen your tongue."

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**I really wanted Tsunade to just completely heal Itachi, but that really doesn't work out since she doesn't know he's _not _a homicidal maniac yet... ): We'll see how this goes.**


	3. Ibiki

**Ahhhh…goodness, I am so sorry for being terrible at posting chapters and updating my stories. ):  
I know it's been a couple of years now, but I hope everyone still enjoys what I wrote!**

Pain.

Pure, desolate, undulating pain.

It rolled through Itachi's body in violent waves, tearing, burning and encompassing everything in its wake.

Then suddenly, as abruptly as the agony started, it disappeared. Itachi hunched over, gasping slightly and reeling from nausea. But he was careful to keep his mouth pressed shut into a vigilantly thin line.

Ibiki stared down at the Uchiha's trembling shoulders. He reached a muscular arm down and jerked the latter's chin up with a powerful hand, forcing Itachi's face skyward. He gazed down at the pale, drawn face. Tsunade had taken the care to supplant Itachi's ravaged eye sockets with a set of normal, ink black eyes, a replacement that much resembled the Uchiha's original eyes outside of his Sharingan use. Ibiki glared into those dark irises, but detected no hint of a wavering conscience.

Itachi kept his face resolutely blank, free from emotion, free from pain. His was an empty slate, with no past to cling to, and nothing in the present to tether him down. His ANBU training had taught him that much, at least.

Ibiki growled in frustration. "Uchiha, how long do you expect to keep this up?" He released Itachi's chin and the latter immediately slumped forward, exhausted.

Itachi did not reply.

"You will give me information," he warned. "I have yet to fail an interrogation yet. Every mind, no matter how determined, will eventually, succumb."

At these words, the Uchiha slowly raised his head, and shot a glance through his filth-covered hair.

"Then, by all means, please continue, Ibiki-san," Itachi exhaled softly.

"Do not think I won't," Ibiki replied grimly.

And Itachi curled up into a small ball of writhing agony as the pain hit his body again.

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…

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It was much later, in the middle of the night, when Itachi was dumped unceremoniously into his holding cell again. His body reeling from the day's worth of torture, supplanted with the previous week's equally grueling treatment, had left him so physically drained, that he collapsed into slumber immediately.

Itachi passed the time in prison in the dark and alone. He seldom moved. But while his exterior remained still, his mind was boiling with inner turmoil, and racing wild with worry. Always, his thoughts deviated towards Sasuke, and formed half-formulated theories, questions, and stories on the boy's whereabouts. Perhaps Sasuke had already recovered from the battle. And hopefully, he remained free form the evil clutches of Madara, but chances were slim. Would he return to Konoha? Would Sasuke restore the Uchiha's honor as Itachi had hoped? Or would Madara snatch the boy away, just as he had found the path of redemption? But, Itachi thought grimly, killing one's older brother is by no means the best way to redeem one's clan, even if he was an internationally recognized serial-killer.

The days passed in silence within the prison he was incarcerated at.

Save for the food deposited into his cell, alongside the medicinal pill that Tsunade had formulated to keep his wasting body alive, Itachi lost all human contact.

Ibiki had stopped paying the Uchiha visits; which, he suspected, was due to Tsunade simply giving up on the interrogation attempt.

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…

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The silence sank into Itachi's bones.

He began to long for death, of which he had only a taste before he had been ruefully snatched out of its peaceful clutches.

And then suddenly, one day, a flash of blonde appeared in outside the bars of his cell.

Itachi blinked, sure his mind had broken at last under the perpetual solitude. But he could smell the faint scent of Ramen that clung to the young man's orange jacket, and feel the dark aura of the nine-tailed fox emanating faintly from the man.

He flicked a careless glance up at the sky blue eyes.

Uzumaki Naruto stared down at the motionless, thin Uchiha.


	4. Naruto

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…

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Naruto blinked and stared down some more. Itachi remained still and silent, his empty eyes gazing emotionlessly at the blonde.

Naruto shifted uneasily from foot to foot. It just felt so _wrong_, seeing Itachi hunched over in a prison cell! Here was one of the most dangerous S-class nin in the bingo book, simply wasting away in the Konoha, behind bars. The mere thought of it was too bizarre. Naruto shook his head in mild bemusement.

Itachi stayed motionless under the blonde's scrutiny. The silence dragged agonizingly on. Finally, Naruto couldn't stand it anymore.

He raised his hand in greeting. "Hi there, Itachi!"

Itachi merely blinked. Naruto decided that the gesture was all he would receive in place of acknowledgement. He pressed on.

"So…how is life for you?" Immediately after the words left his mouth, Naruto cringed. What a stupid question. Who asks someone that appeared to be on death's door—and rotting away in prison no less—how their life was?

Naruto laughed awkwardly and scratched his head sheepishly. Hopefully the toads will use the summoning jutsu on him at this exact moment and teleport him and his stupidity far, far away from the dark, empty eyes of the Uchiha. He would happily slurp worms for a month if only he could just escape the terrible, awkward silence congealing in the dark cell.

He waited.

Nothing happened.

Naruto sighed. He decided to just take a hack at things and get down to what he wanted to say. "Yeah, I really shouldn't be here right now," Naruto explained awkwardly. "They locked you away in a really tight and secure place, actually. Even ol' Granny Tsunade wouldn't tell me where you were, dattebayo. I had to go into Sage Mode and search for your chakra, and even that wasn't easy! There must be some seal on this prison, dattebayo, cuz I couldn't really find you that way at all.

"Thank god for Sakura-chan though. She secretly looked up your information when Granny had her back turned." Naruto grinned. "I came here as fast as I could! Well I had a lot of missions and stuff to do, but I'm here now and that's what matters!"

Having finished saying that, he looked down expectantly at Itachi for a response. Itachi merely blinked again.

Naruto wanted to hit himself in frustration. He squatted down in front of the bars and took a seat on the dank, dirty ground.

"Look Itachi," he said seriously. "Lots of stuff happened in the past few weeks, and everything is going crazy, dattebayo. Pain attacked our village, and now Madara has declared war, and—"

At these words, Itachi stiffened. He carefully licked his cracked lips. "What did you just say?"

Naruto stared. "How did you not know that Pain completely leveled the village to the ground?"

Itachi remained silent, wondering which episode of pain-induced delirium had caused him to miss such a monumental battle.

"And anyhow, Madara is collecting the tailed beasts for a full-out war, dattebayo. And he also told me things." Naruto paused, but recklessly decided to go on saying what was on his mind. "He told me the truth about you, and the Uchiha Massacre—"

At these words, Itachi made a visible movement, as if to stand. He paled visibly.

"Naruto." Itachi closed his eyes. "Please, keep what Madara said a secret to yourself."

"But—"

"I was proud." Itachi flicked his eyes open and gazed calmly at the blonde ninja. Naruto looked ready to protest some more. "I am still proud, even now, to serve as Konoha's Uchiha Itachi. What I did, I did for the village's sake. Do not bring up the past anymore, Naruto. Let it remain forgotten."

"You could be freed!" Naruto exclaimed incredulously. "If you just told Granny Tsunade, she would catch the people involved and—"

"And incite a rebellion within the Hidden Leaf Village just as the world is upon the brink of war?" Itachi smiled humorlessly. "Think. Think what this would mean if word got out that the village's top officials ordered the Uchiha Massacre.

"It is easier for people to believe in beautiful lies than the terrible truth. Never forget that."

Naruto glared. "Who's going to save Sasuke now?" he shouted. "He's gone crazy. He killed Danzo, and he almost killed Sakura-chan too. Get out of this hellhole and talk some sense into your brother, dattebayo!"

"I will leave that up to you." And for the first time in months, Itachi smiled. It completely changed his features, bestowing a gentle compassion that replaced the harsh lines. Naruto was taken aback by the sudden change in the Uchiha's demeanor. "You will save Sasuke-kun. I believe in you, Naruto. You will be able to succeed where I have failed."

Naruto frowned. He stood up. "I will get you out of here Itachi. You can save your brother for yourself." He turned, and strode down the desolate hallway, disappearing into the dark shroud.

Itachi sighed wistfully. If only matters of the world were as simple as that.

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**So, this story doesn't really follow the canon as closely as I would like it to. It's been too long since I updated this story, and the Naruto plot right now is a bit too complicated for me to actually weave an elaborate self-invented plot into the main storyline. I was going to have Itachi escape from prison when Pain destroyed Konoha, but that manga chapter happened eons ago (at least, from my perspective), and I'm just trying to catch up to the war. **

**I'd like to think of these past couple of chapters as a…re-introduction of sorts into writing. I haven't written an essay in over a year since I started college—oh the woes of being a neurobiology major (though I am deeply interested, just put off from the lack of literature) and I apologize if anything sounds corny, faked, or just terrible in general. I am still trying to regain the vestiges of my creativity back. (:**

**OH AND PLEASE PLEASE, LEAVE REVIEWS! :D **

**TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.**

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